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XPS 15 Wiki
Welcome to the XPS 15 9530 (Late 2013 Model) Wiki A central location for tips, tricks, and solutions relevant to the Dell XPS 15 (9530) Haswell laptop computer. Becuase the 9530 is the current model (released 4Q 2013), it is the start point of this wiki. At present, this wiki does not yet contain information for previous generations of XPS 15; time permitting, I will add links to such content; others are welcome to create an entire section (or companion wiki) to fill this gap. International visitors should presume that all content is from the American perspective unless otherwise specified, though all are welcome to contribute content! What to do upon first receiving an XPS 15 *Create a Recovery Media *Update Your Drivers! *Protect Your Investment! *Normalize the Display! *Sort Out Exaggerated Bass *Create a Power Profile General Information *Official Dell Content *Published Reviews *Common Complaints and what to do about them! *How to.... *Accessories Latest Drivers XPS vs rMBP Windows Linux FAQ Can't Decide Which Configuration of XPS 15 You Want? There are different configurations for the XPS 15; on the NotebookReview user forum they are most commonly referred to by "tier" - as in base tier, mid-tier, and top tier - but at least one user claims Dell has decided to use precious metal labels: silver, gold, platinum. Because the tier labels are less ambiguous, they tend to be used in this wiki. At the bottom of this page is a chart that more clearly delineates the differences among the three configurations, but in summary form, by adding $450 to the asking price of the base configuration, Dell upgrades nearly every major catogory - CPU, GPU, RAM, display, storage. That gets you to mid-tier. To move to top tier, you have to shell out another $400, which gets you solid-state storage and 50% more battery capacity. On the user forum at NotebookReview, I am unaware of anyone who chose the base tier - it just doesn't seem like good value for money, as if you don't want the power offered by the mid- and top tiers, you probably aren't much interested in paying an XPS premium anyhow. And if you *are* interested in some computing muscle, the $450 Dell is asking to make that next step is less than it would cost you to DIY the upgrades from a base tier configuration (indicating that the base tier is steeply overpriced compared to the mid-tier). The cost of moving to the top tier from there is also compelling, since the SSD alone would cost the DIYer more than $400 as of January 2014, when these prices were recorded into the wiki. In short, the base tier offers little value for money, and the mid-tier only offers value for money if you already own a large SSD and you don't need more than 4 hours of battery runtime. There will always be cases where a lower tier is still the smart choice for a specific buyer, but in general it is reasonable to conclude that the lower the tier, the more you're spending on the brand name rather than on the hardware itself. Latest activity Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Find videos about your topic by exploring Wikia's Video Library. Category:Browse Category:NFC (Near Field Communication)